Their Deadly Comminations
by Stormy1x2
Summary: A fight gone wrong results in MildlyInjured!Raph, Angry!Leo, Guilty!Mikey and VoiceOfReason!Donnie. Ergo, Donnie is sent to retrieve a broody, pouty Michaelangelo. Schmoop ensues. Done for LJ's FF100.


**Title: **Their Deadly Comminations

**Author: **Stormy1x2 (travelingstorm)

**Rating:** PG

**Word Count (fic portion):** 1627

**Notes: **Done for LJ's ff100 challenge. Prompt #32: **Sunset. **

**Summary:** A fight gone wrong results in MildlyInjured!Raph, Angry!Leo, Guilty!Mikey and VoiceOfReason!Donnie. Ergo, Donnie is sent to retrieve a broody, pouty Michaelangelo. Schmoop ensues.

**Final Note:** MinceyJ - please contact me with your fic request!!

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Donnie blinked at the surge of color that greeted him when he exited the sewer pipe. The route he'd taken topside led him to a fairly sheltered part of the New York city harbor, further down away from shipping docks. It was nice there, not so polluted with the scent of diesel fuel or the sight of tell-tale rainbow oil slick on the water's surface. Brilliant orange and yellow swept out across the horizon, back-lighting the clouds that let thin streams of white seep through to touch down on the city skyline.

Donnie whistled appreciatively as he picked his way down along the rocky shoreline. He wasn't the artist of their group – that would be Mikey – but even he could see nature's canvas for the work of beauty it was.

Speaking of his younger sibling... Donnie raised his head and scanned the water's edge. There – perched on a rock, nearly completely under the shelter of a rotting and abandoned dock. The dock kept passers-by from noticing a giant turtle; unless someone came down the bank and stepped out on the dock, the only way to get a clear view was to come directly from the sewer pipe, as Donnie had. Middle of the day, out in the open, yet completely unnoticeable. He smiled faintly.

"See? You do know how to be a ninja."

Mikey didn't flinch when Donatello spoke; a silent testimony to his level of awareness of his surroundings. "Shut up Donnie."

"Harsh, Mikey." Donatello moved up alongside his sibling, pretending to stare out at the ocean stretching out before them, but surreptitiously casting glances at Mikey from the corner of his eye. "Are you mad at me?"

Michaelangelo sighed, dropping his head down and turning it enough to look at his brother. His arms were folded on top of his tucked up legs, his cheek braced against his forearm. Curled up there on the rock, his eyes wide and watery, he looked about ten years younger than he was. "No."

"Well, that's a relief." And it was, funnily enough. It was rare when Donatello and Michaelangelo were at odds, and it never sat right with Donnie when they were. "Are you still mad at Leo?"

A scowl appeared on Mikey's face before he wiped it clean away, turning his face back to the water. Donnie hid a smile. Apparently, that was a 'yes'. "You know, Leo was just worried about you."

"He said he was sick of me," Mikey said flatly.

"Actually, he said he was sick of seeing you nearly get killed because you couldn't stop fooling around during a fight," Donnie corrected him. "And I can't say that I blame him, considering if Raph hadn't been keeping an eye on you, you would have been shot."

"I don't need a babysitter," Mike snarled. "I can take care of myself. If I get shot, then fine, I get shot. Maybe it'll teach me that lesson you all seem to think I need so damn badly."

Donnie rolled his eyes and bumped Mikey's arm with his hip, signaling for him to move over so he could sit. Once he got settled, he reached over and smacked Mikey upside the head.

"Ow!"

"That was for that stupid remark," Donatello said mildly. "If you honestly believe Raph, Leo or myself would stand by and let you get shot, then you deserve a much harder hit then what I just gave you."

Mikey glared at him.

Donatello sighed. "Mikey, you scared us today. Especially Leo. You know how hard he takes it if one of us gets injured. You were nearly shot – Raph wound up with a grazing bullet wound in the arm that would have hit you right between the eyes if he hadn't moved." Despite the warmth of the night air, Donnie shuddered as though he were chilled right through. "He yelled at you because he was scared. And if Raph wasn't doped up on painkillers and beer – and note to myself, I am going to _kill _Casey for bringing that case down – he'd be the one down here, giving you this little pep talk."

"Raph doesn't give pep talks." The corner of Mike's mouth was curled slightly, as though he were trying to hide a small smile.

"He'd be down here threatening to kill you himself instead of letting a Dragon do it," Donnie amended. "Whatever. The point is, we were worried. Leo lashed out, and you took it the wrong way."

Mikey shrugged, still staring out at the water. "Not many ways to take 'what kind of ninja are you anyway', or my personal favorite, 'what the hell is wrong with you?'"

Donnie rolled his eyes, and waited. The sun was nearly completely gone. The brilliant array of colors from a few minutes ago was deepening into violets and purples, dark blues starting to edge their way across the vast canopy. Soon, the stars would be out. The clouds were thinning out, and it looked like it would be a good night for star-gazing; he should have brought his telescope. But then, he'd had other things to worry about, especially with one brother screaming, one brother drugged, and the youngest brother fleeing the lair.

"He's never really yelled at me like that before."

Donnie glanced over. "Hmm?"

"Leo," Mikey said quietly. "I mean, yeah, he's yelled and gotten upset before – I remember how he was all those months before going to see the Ancient, but he was more of a guilt trip kinda person. That was how he got me ready to face Kluh."

Donatello was only vaguely aware of the details surrounding Leo's training of Mikey before his Battle Nexus rematch. It had been something between the two of them. "He guilt-tripped you?"

Mikey nodded. "Talked about how we were all linked together – if one of us went down, we all went down. He pushed me hard, and it was because of him that I won. He said he was proud of me." Mikey turned his head to face Donnie again, tears welling up in his blue eyes. "I don't think he's proud of me anymore."

Donnie sighed yet again, and reached out, wrapping his arm around Mikey's shoulders and tugging him closer, letting his sibling lean against him. "Leo's proud of you, Mikey," he said, matter-of-factly. "He loves you. We all do. Even Raph, though he'd die before admitting it." Donnie squeezed him lightly. "You scared him. Us. Mikey, you were jumping around, laughing and ignoring everything he said."

"They were just Dragons," Mikey pouted. "Not Foot ninjas."

"They were Dragons with guns, Mikey. I saw how loaded they were, and warned Raph and Leo. Leo tried to warn you, but you didn't take him seriously." Donnie gazed at his brother, confused. "Mikey, Dragons shot at you on Christmas Eve last year. You know they've started packing heavier fire power. Why didn't you take this seriously? What was going through your head?"

"I...I don't know," Mikey admitted quietly. "I was... in a good mood, I guess. Had a good run at practice, got my new comic supply, April picked me up a bag of my favorite chips, the video store had my new game and...well, I just wanted to let loose. I was having fun."

"Having fun is one thing, but nearly getting your brains blown out is not my idea of a good time," Donnie said dryly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Donnie was quiet for a minute, gathering his thoughts. Then he spoke. "Mikey. You know the Dragons have been regrouping under Hun. They've made it their personal quest to see us destroyed. Karai and the Foot are no better. They've made their threats quite plain and open."

"I know."

"Then you also know we've got to be more careful. Stick together, watch out for each other." Donnie nudged him. "We're all we've got, you know? April, Casey, Angel, the Professor, all our human friends, are just that – human. They can turn to a whole other side of life that we can't, for support and help. But us... in the end, it's just us. And I don't want to lose any of my brothers to anything other than old age. I know the odds are against us doing that, given our lifestyle, but it's a goal I'm willing to do everything I can to reach. Do you understand?"

Mikey nodded, leaning back into his brother, resting his head on Donnie's shoulder. "I gotcha, dude. I do. And..." He hesitated for a second. "I'm sorry."

Donnie snorted. "It's not me you need to apologize to. And by the way, Leo feels horrible about what he said."

"Did he say that?"

"No. But he went in the training room and began doing that Phoenix-on-the-Mountain-top Kata."

Mikey let out a watery sounding giggle. "He hates 'Phoenix'."

"Well, how about we head back, and you can tell him to quit the self-punishment act?" Donatello pushed himself off the rock, standing up. He looked at Mikey expectantly.

Mikey bit his lip, but nodded. "Do you think..." He trailed off, uncertainty in his blue eyes making them big, wide.

"Mikey?"

"Do you think he'll forgive me?" Unsure and hesitant. Scared.

Donnie's heart ached. "Oh, Mikey – of course he will." He tugged his brother off the rock, and into a warm hug that his brother eagerly reciprocated, wrapping his arms around Donnie's shell as best he could. "Can we go home now? He's probably halfway through a fourth round of 'Phoenix', and Raph's probably halfway through that stupid case of Corona Casey brought down."

Mikey grinned, and docilely let himself be pulled along as Donatello led his little brother home, where he – _they_ – belonged.

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**End**

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